Origin boss David DeMartini acknowledges that some hardcore gamers are always going to wig out whenever EA does something.

Speaking to MCV, DeMartini likened Origin’s controversial launch to that of Steam.

“People forget that when Steam launched, there was a lot of backlash from the core,” he said.

“Origin represents a change, and anytime EA does something that is significant in the industry, it generates a certain amount of reaction. Really it’s just to give customers an opportunity for choice.”

The executive noted that there aren’t many things EA does which don’t result in an adverse reaction from someone, citing a recent scheme to give Kickstarter-funded games free Origin launches as one rare example.

“The hardcore sometimes has issues with Origin, but they seem to love these crowd-funded games,” he said.

“It was one of the few things we have done that wasn’t controversial and nobody had anything negative to say.”